The arrival of Mustafa Elogbi at Portland International Airport on Monday brought relief and tears for his family.

For a month and a half, they had been waiting anxiously for the 60-year-old grocer, who was barred without explanation from returning home from Libya.

But now that he's back, the exhaustion of the last six weeks is giving way to exasperation, as family members and supporters are questioning how the FBI could justifiably block Elogbi, who has not been charged with a crime, from flying.

The agency had even called on British authorities to detain, interrogate and jail the naturalized U.S. citizen on his return flight last month, his lawyer said. Attorney Tom Nelson said they questioned him about his Muslim faith, violated his rights and jeopardized his health.

"Now we need to figure out why and what to do," said Elogbi's wife, Annie Petrossian, who has spent the last month and a half calling federal agencies, emailing the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia and pressuring U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to intervene on her husband's behalf. With her husband back in Portland, she was both overjoyed and drained.

Elogbi's arrival comes six days after the return of another Libyan American from the area, Jamal Tarhuni, who was similarly barred from flying home to Portland. Tarhuni, who was working with Medical Teams International to distribute medical supplies to war-torn Libya, was stopped in January from boarding a flight in Tunisia. FBI agents, including Portland-based agent Bryan Zinn, questioned him about his religious beliefs and about Libya's political future, Tarhuni said.

Elogbi, of Southwest Portland, had been visiting family members in Libya. He flew out of Tunisia on Jan. 8, before being detained in London and sent back to Tunisia. It was not until weeks later, with the assistance of Nelson that Elogbi and Tarhuni were allowed to leave -- albeit separately and nearly a week apart.

The FBI in Portland has repeatedly declined to comment, saying it cannot out of concern for privacy rights. Beth Anne Steele, an FBI spokeswoman, maintained that "our agents are very specifically trained and very clearly trained on what is acceptable under U.S. law. And we greatly value people's rights under the U.S. Constitution."

To Elogbi, the FBI's actions should concern all Americans.

"Today, it happens to Elogbi and Tarhuni," he said. "Tomorrow, it's going to happen to Jones and Smith, if you don't stand up and show that you are an American citizen who should be protected and should (have) rights."

Even at the airport, Elogbi had to clear some obstacles. Over Elogbi's and Nelson's objections, customs agents refused to allow Nelson to accompany Elogbi during more than an hourlong "secondary screening."

View full sizeFaith Cathcart/The OregonianAnnie Petrossian, the wife of Mustafa Elogbi, weeps as she catches sight of him Monday at Portland International Airport. He was delayed from returning home for six weeks by the FBI.

Neither Ed Colford, supervisor with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Portland, nor Edward Low, a spokesman for the agency in San Francisco, could not be reached for comment.

But Elogbi emerged, greeting his family, dozens of Muslim community members and customers of his Halal meat and Mediterranean foods store who had come to the airport.

Among those in the crowd was Tarhuni, a Tigard resident who has spent the past week relaxing with family. He also dropped by the FBI office to retrieve his cellphone and camera, which had been confiscated by customs agents last Tuesday. While there, he said, he saw agent Zinn -- the same man who had flown to Tunisia to question him last month. It was cordial, he said.

But Tarhuni has no answers about why the FBI did what it did. And he wonders whether he is still on the no-fly list, noting that he is supposed to go to Minneapolis next month to participate in a Nobel Peace Prize Forum.

Zinn, he said, could not tell him, saying that "the FBI does not get involved" in that.

Nelson questioned whether the FBI is targeting people who worship at Masjed As-Saber, also known as the Islamic Center of Portland. Elogbi and Tarhuni both attend the mosque. Nelson also recalled the case of Michael Migliore, a Portland State University student and Muslim convert who was placed on the no-fly list and detained in London after traveling by boat.

He said he will soon share details of a fourth man from Portland who has been held and tortured for 106 days overseas after he turned down an FBI request to become an informant.

And the mosque's religious leader, Sheikh Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye, was placed on the no-fly list two years ago, and has had to travel by car to Minneapolis and San Diego for conferences. He is one of 15 plaintiffs challenging the no-fly list in a federal lawsuit.

The mosque has been a point of interest for the FBI in the past. In 2001, six men who worshipped at the mosque had gone to China, hoping to fight in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban. One man eventually made it, but was killed in combat. The other five men and one woman were later convicted of charges including conspiracy to wage war against the United States and money laundering.